NASCAR Hall of Famer Mark Martin called for wholesale changes to NASCAR’s current Next Gen NASCAR Cup Series cars because they are currently ugly and look stupid.
Mark Martin via Dale Earnhardt’s Dirty Mo Media YouTube
In a video shared to his official X account, Martin was asked what he would hope to read if NASCAR made a number of decisions to the cars following the conclusion of the 2024 season.
Martin responded, “First. Day 1. First one. Move the number to the middle of the door. I don’t care who likes it and who don’t like it.” When asked why he cares so much, he responded, “Because it’s ugly. It doesn’t look like a race car. It looks stupid.”
This is going to piss a few people off but 🤷🏼 pic.twitter.com/PuFxN8MGku
— Mark Martin (@markmartin) September 23, 2024
When confronted with the idea that sponsors would not be happy about moving the numbers back, Martin replied, “The sponsors were there. They were there and they are still there on the Xfinity cars and they’re still there on ARCA cars. The sponsors are still there.
“It doesn’t make that much difference,” he added. “They spoiled them by giving them what they gave them. Put the number back where it’s supposed to be.”
Todd Gilliland via Front Row Motorsports YouTube
Martin continued, “Somebody smarter than me can make them raise the back of the cars up. If nothing else mandate a longer rear shock so they run bottomed out on the left rear shock so its 2 inches higher. It looks stupid squatting down in the back like it does all the time.”
“Third, get rid of that damn underbody. They don’t need that stuff. Get rid of it. Then widen the back bumper out some.” When asked why, he replied, “It looks stupid! It doesn’t look like a race car. ARCA cars look like race cars. Xfinity cars look like race cars. It doesn’t look like a race car. It’s too narrow. It sucks in behind the tires. And by the way that would make the cars drive a little bit better if they widen that out. Then when they took the down force off maybe they wouldn’t cry as much about it.”
“But those are the first things,” he said. “There’s many more things to be done. But the first thing I’d do is make them look like race cars again.”
Mark Martin via Dale Earnhardt’s Dirty Mo Media YouTube
What do you make of Mark Martin’s criticism of the Next Gen NASCAR Cup Series cars and his suggestions to fix them?